Ninja Spirits
by Karama9
Summary: OC story... kind of. Scenes from the life and death of my version of Storm Shadow's father, known affectionately as the Insane Master. Some humour, some drama, lots of ninjas. If this doesn't scare you away, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Life and Death

**Author's Notes**

This story focuses on an OC of sort: the Fearless Master is my version of Storm Shadow's father. He's also known informally as the Insane Master, very fittingly so. One example would be this comment from Tommy about him (extracted from The Greenshirts and the Werewolf): "He got a sword slash across his face when I was a baby, and the scar shrunk the skin around his eye. Up to that point, he had considered himself to be very handsome. After that injury, he decided to go to the other extreme for his face to continue to be a distraction to his opponents, and purposely scarred himself on every available inch, using a combination of burns and cuts."

Thanks to CrystalofEllinon's inspiration, one subset of these scars has since been defined as the very symbol of the Arashikage clan, carved in FM's cheek.

Another fun fact: Tommy is called Tomisaburo (which means something along the lines of precious third son) by his relatives but is an only child. My explanation is that his father named him after himself, using the excuse that he was referring to two of Tommy's cousins. That of course means the Fearless Master's real name would be Tomisaburo as well.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Life and Death**

The trainee knocked to announce himself and then let himself right in, a letter in hand. The Hard Master scowled at him, and the young man's pulse accelerated a bit in a most satisfying fashion, although it did not nearly make up for his continued presence. There was nothing for it, however: the recipient of the letter, his brother the Fearless Master, had noticed the intrusion and had just thrown his opponent a few steps away to grab the letter from the student's hand, the usual dread showing in his face.

The Hard Master tried to sigh, but couldn't quite manage. It was foolishness, all this worry on Tomisaburo's part: Tommy was perfectly capable of looking after himself. This crazy feeling his brother could not shake - that he'd never see his son again - was nothing but imaginings. There were ninjas that claimed a true Master could feel his death coming, but even THAT silly belief did not extend to feeling someone else's impending doom.

And yet, the eldest of the Arashikage masters found himself holding his breath just like his brother was as said brother ripped opened the standard filtered correspondence envelope. Every letter from the soldiers went through processing and filtering, so they all arrived in official US Army envelopes; the same envelopes, or so the Fearless Master and his brothers imagined, as the Army would use to send notification of a soldier's death.

The youngest master of the Arashikage clan, one of the most feared men among ninjas and those who dealt with them, let out a most unthreatening and fatherly sigh of relief upon seeing the two pages filled with his son's handwriting – in English as per required by the army. He grinned and started to read, quite forgetting he had been in the middle of a scheduled spar with his long time friend, the Blue Master of the Mizu clan.

The fact recalled itself to his mind when said friend tried to kick him. He easily blocked the blow without ever taking his eyes off the letter.

His opponent groaned and stepped away. "Could you at least pay attention when you're besting me?"

"I do apologize, Blue Master," the Soft Master said, smiling. "My brother has instructed everyone in the clan to always bring him his son's letters right away, no matter what. I assure you, he'll be more attentive as soon as he's done."

"The Arashikage INVITED us here," the Green Master, one of two others from the Mizu clan who had accompanied the Blue Master to the Arashikage compound, grumbled. "And you make us wait?"

The White Master, the third envoy from the Mizu clan, nodded with a scowl that rivaled the Hard Master's. The Blue Master, however, chuckled.

"If it were anyone else but this idiot treating us in this fashion, I would indeed see it as an insult," he said. "but my sword brothers may as well blame our allies for the birds singing in the sky."

"You have our thanks for your patience, Blue Master," the Hard Master said with an apologetic bow to all three Mizu representatives. "And for not taking advantage of the Insane Master's current distraction to humiliate him by beating him senseless. The Mizu clan always was truly noble."

The Blue Master smiled at the appellation: the nickname was of course not normally used in formal circumstances, and this mark of friendship on the part of the Hard Master, even more than the formal agreement between their respective clans to share some techniques – agreement which had directly led to this scheduled sparring session – spoke volumes on the close relationship desired by both clans.

"He's doing great," the Fearless Master suddenly announced cheerfully, finally folding the letter away, grinning from ear to ear. "Got a new squad, and his one surviving friend from the first one is with him again."

"Do you know that you're even uglier when you're smiling?" the Blue Master commented with a smirk, getting in position again. "It really brings out all the smaller scars, and makes your eyes look even more uneven. It's really quite disgusting."

"Why thank you," the Fearless Master said, giving a mock bow before getting in a dueling stance as well, as though the fight had not already started and been interrupted. "I did work hard on this face. I don't think I've missed a single square inch."

"I always felt that your clan's symbol engraved on your right cheek was a nice touch. To cement the friendship between our clans, allow me to carve ours on the other side of your face!"

He launched at him then, and to most observers, what followed would have been nothing but a chaotic blur as both men moved too fast to follow for anyone but fellow ninja masters.

The other four ninja masters present, however, were following every move and counter move and making careful mental notes. Therefore, they knew for a fact that the Fearless Master had not received a hit when he suddenly stopped, his hands going up towards his head. He collapsed before his hands even reached.

The Blue Master's eyes widened. He made to bend down on his friend to check on him, feverishly hoping the Insane Master wasn't going to stupidly sucker punch him and risk causing a rift between their clans, but his outstretched hand never made contact with the other ninja; he heard someone scream the Fearless Master's birth name and was roughly shoved aside by the Hard Master.

"SOMEONE GET THE MEDIC!" the older ninja screamed even as he started CPR on the Fearless Master.

The Hard Master was fighting blind panic as he attempted to restart his baby brother's heart. He couldn't die, Tomisaburo couldn't die. He was the youngest, he was the baby, and as much as the Hard Master loathed himself for the thought even occurring to him at a time like this, right now the Fearless Master was the only reason the clan was not bankrupt. He. Could. Not. Die! Nobody could take the man down, the running gag each time someone came close or should have been able to based on comparative skills was that the Insane Master was too bloody stubborn to die.

"Don't you dare…" he muttered between two attempts to force some air into his brother's lungs. "Brother, don't you dare do this to us!"

He felt himself being pried away and tried to break free, but relented: the medic was here and had taken over. He felt the smallest bit of calm impose itself on his mind: that was the man's job, he'd get Tomisaburo right again. And then his brother would go on doing HIS job, and all would be right. People doing their duties, everything in order.

Except that even the blood pumping in his ears could not muffle the medic's voice enough to make his meaning unclear when he spoke.

"I'm sorry. He's gone."

* * *

The Fearless Master opened his eyes feeling so good that it took him a moment to remember he'd collapsed after a sharp pain in his head.

It was funny too; he hadn't even seen the hit. The Blue Master would definitely have to show him THAT move again. He got up and blinked at his surroundings: there were none, safe for a woman sitting by his side. He did a double take, blinked, looked around again, and locked eyes with his companion.

She smiled at him. The same smile as on their wedding day, the one only he was ever treated too. It radiated warmth and love, just as always. He had missed that smile; his mind's eye never got it quite right. He could remember exactly how it looked, he could remember exactly how her pulse and her breathing sounded, he could remember her smell, but his memory could never quite bring back the sheer happiness that washed over him each time her lips quirked up like this, the wonder at his incredible luck in having this woman's love, the safety and comfort of knowing he'd never lose that love.

Yet he thought he HAD lost her. She had died MUCH too soon, Tommy had only been two and hardly even knew her.

His eyes widened a bit more still. "Ayame?" he asked. "How…?"

She put a hand on his leg, looking sweeter than ever. "Honey,…" she started… and the truth dawned on him. He reached out to put a finger on her lips. She frowned slightly.

"I'm dead?" he asked.

"Yes…" she started. She was interrupted again by a loud whoop and her husband crushing her form against his and dragging her along for a happy dance.

"He's okay!" he exclaimed while lifting her up, tears of joy in his eyes. "It was ME! I'm the one that was going to die! Tommy's okay!"

He pulled her close in a hug that would have crushed her ribs had she possessed any, and then he was twirling her around again, laughing like a loon. The laughter suddenly stopped when he pulled her face close to him and kissed her.

It was a long kiss. Neither needed to breathe, and they had been apart for a while, and it WAS the first time they were kissing each other as spirits – things felt a bit different. They took their time trying out different angles and exploring each other, and only pulled apart when they felt the need to talk again.

"Tommy's still in a dangerous war, dear," Ayame said. "What were you three even thinking, sending him there?"

"Final trial," Tomisaburo said, in a tone that made it clear he felt he was spelling out the obvious. "I wouldn't worry anymore, he can handle himself." He grinned and sighed happily. "Isn't it great? He's going to be okay! Plus, I can keep an eye on him now! Or can I? Oh! Can we haunt? Can we touch things? I can touch YOU… how does that work? And you don't mind the scars?"

"I'm choosing to see you without them," Ayame said with a giggle that made Tomisaburo's heart flutter in a way that certainly felt physical. "We can't really haunt, no. Some people can feel our presence, especially when we try hard, but we're spirits, not ghosts. We feel solid to each other because we choose to, but the living are not able to fully perceive us."

Tomisaburo was only half listening. Technical details on what they could or could not do were suddenly not all that interesting. He already knew they could be solid to each other, he already knew the kiss had felt very nice...

"You look distracted, love," Ayame said with a knowing smirk. If anything, she was rather surprised he hadn't started to undress her while they were kissing.

Her husband swallowed. "Tommy," he said with something of an effort. No longer having blood was apparently not an obstacle to all of it going south. The only reason he still wanted to check on their son was that he didn't want to be distracted by worries for the next little while. "Can we check on him? Real quick?"

She giggled again and in what he felt was a supreme bout of sadism, pouted. He discovered that ethereal pants could feel just as uncomfortably tight and restricting as material ones. He gulped again.

Ayame took pity on him. All of eternity in front of them, and he still had such a sense of urgency… the man always had been one to know what his priorities were. Not that she wasn't feeling a bit impatient herself. She could understand his worries, however – she had been 'checking' on their son nearly constantly since the last close call that had killed nearly everyone else in his unit. She stopped pouting and cleared her throat.

"First, be warned that he may not notice us at all, and if he does, he won't be quite sure he's not imagining things. Especially for you… he doesn't know you're dead, after all."

"That's fine," he said, some of his wits clicking back into place.

She nodded. "Just concentrate on wanting to be by his side," she instructed. "Closing your eyes might help, I seem to be a distraction for you right now," she added with a wink.

He rolled his eyes before shutting them, and focused as instructed on wanting to see his only son.

His eyes widened when he opened them again. He was floating alongside a half dozen young men, each one crusted over with dirt and each face showing the same mix of concentration, fear and boredom. It was only when the middle one suddenly turned to stare right through him that he recognized his son's pulse and his face, hidden under a thick coating of grime that at least had the merit of letting him blend in with his surroundings that much more.

"See something?" the soldier behind Tommy asked, looking roughly in the same direction as his companion.

Tommy shook his head, frowning in puzzlement, and looked straight ahead again.

"See?" Ayame asked. "He's fine." He could hear the smile in her voice and sure enough, when he turned to her, he found her smiling fondly at their boy. No doubt she felt he was trudging, bored and yet on his guard, better than any of the other guys. He couldn't pretend to disagree.

He nodded and grabbed her hand before willing the both of them back to the empty place he had first found himself in upon dying. The jungle dissolved around him, replaced by the nothingness.

Ayame snorted and shook her head at him. "Honey… we can go anywhere and nobody can see us," she said.

He blinked at her, already trying to undo the kimono she was wearing, but then her meaning dawned on him.

"The top platform of Tokyo Tower?" he suggested with a grin. He had very fond memory of their last time there.

She grinned too, pressed herself against him, and they were off.

* * *

Thanks for reading so far. Please review! I honestly don't know whether this is only an indulgence for me or whether it's a good read for several people, so please let me know one way or the other. :D


	2. Chapter 2: Consequences

**Chapter 2: Consequences**

- Five Years Ago -

"_A full-time teacher?" the Fearless Master said, his eyes wide. "Ugh, Tommy. Booooooooooriiiiiiiiiinng."_

_The young teenager scowled and crossed his arms; he looked ready for a fight._

"_I don't think I'll find it boring at all," he said through gritted teeth._

_The Fearless Master frowned thoughtfully. He didn't actually mind; it was after all Tommy's business what he wanted to do when he grew up and besides, this was a convenient choice – Tommy was the only heir at the moment, so his choosing the less dangerous path of teaching over wage earning was actually a good thing for the clan. It wasn't as though there was a shortage of wage earners. That being said, it would have been a shame if Tommy had been so ready to defend his right to choose only to find himself not needing to. Also, pushing his son's buttons never got old._

"_I don't know, son. You'd look like a coward." It wasn't technically a lie, but the potential issue was so easily remedied by a few shows of bravado as to be non-existent._

_The comment did the trick: the boy turned a very satisfying shade of burgundy. _

"_IT'S NOT BECAUSE I'M AFRAID!"_

_The Insane Master tried very hard to reply something serious to keep egging his son on, but burst out laughing instead._

* * *

_- Present Time -_

"What's on your mind?"

Arashikage Tomisaburo blinked and focused his gaze back on his wife; she looked a bit concerned. The two were lying in a lions' den, somewhere in Africa; they had moved there after Tokyo Tower, in the mood for more savage surroundings. The lions were either completely unaware of their presence or completely uninterested.

His mind had been wandering and he'd been lost in memories. He pulled his wife against him and ran his fingers through her hair, relishing the fact that he could touch her again, and that he'd be able to until the end of time.

"I was just curious," he said.

"Hm," she replied thoughtfully. "I am too, to be honest. Did your opponent even hit you?"

His eyes widened and he chuckled as he realized that she thought he had been wondering what had killed him. "I don't think he did," he said in answer to her question. "And NOW I'm curious about THAT too."

She pulled away a little to look him in the eyes and titled her head. "What else?" she asked.

"I was bringing in most of the revenue, lately," he said. "I just wonder what they're going to do without me. I mean, between my brother and his wife, I'm sure they'll come up with something, but what?"

Ayame got up, smiling. Although 'getting up' didn't really describe what she did: she didn't so much as push herself off the ground as stopped lying on it and started standing on it.

"Well, then," she said, offering her hand to help him up. "Let's go home for a bit and see if we can find out!"

He ignored her hand and concentrated on standing instead. He found himself standing next to her in an instant and buffed his nails, treating her to a cocky smirk. She chuckled, rolled her eyes, and vanished with a wink. He willed himself by her side again and Africa disappeared, replaced by the Hard Master's office.

His elder brother was on the phone, speaking in English and looking murderous.

* * *

"You don't understand. I'm not trying to get him a vacation. His father has died; he needs to come home for the funeral," the Hard Master was explaining, the relatively calm tone in sharp contrast to his facial expression.

The two spirits cocked their heads to listen to the reply.

"I understand very well, Mr. Arashikage," the person on the other end said, horribly mispronouncing the name. "But extractions are very difficult and risky in the war zone, and my information says your nephew's unit is in really deep. He is of course entitled to compassionate leave, and I'm sorry for your loss AND for this, but we can't give him that leave before his unit makes it to an extraction point or has to be pulled out for overwhelming reasons."

"I'm not sure what the problem is," the Insane Master remarked to his wife. "Tommy won't need to be extracted, he'll just figure out a way to get home on his own when he finds out."

"He's in a war zone," his wife reminded him. "Ninja or not, if he leaves his unit and tries to get out of there all by himself, there's a very good chance he'll attend his own funeral along with yours."

"OUR boy?" He snorted derisively. "Nah. He'd make it."

The Hard Master sighed heavily. "Then you are not to inform him of his father's death," he said in the phone. His tone once again did not match his expression: the voice was calm, firm, authoritative. Yet the head of the Arashikage clan was leaning on his hand, looking discouraged.

"Your brother agrees with me," Ayame said. She placed a soothing hand on her husband's shoulder: Tomisaburo's eyes were wide and his upper lip was curling up in a snarl. "Honey, it'd be too dangerous, but you know he'd try anyway. YOU would."

The Insane Master clenched his fists, ready to scream exactly why this would not do, but Ayame then ran a finger along the scar left by the sword cut that had almost taken his eye.

That had been a week after her death. He'd been distracted that night, but had refused to go back on his engagement and had gone on the body guarding mission. He had very nearly joined his wife in death that very night and so had his client.

"Do you really think it'd be good for him to be distressed by this news while he's in there?" she asked.

The Hard Master got his brother's attention back by getting up and the Fearless Master gave up on coming up with an answer: Ayame and his brother were right anyway, as usual. It said something of how very much he loved his wife that although he found the Hard Master's habit of always being right supremely annoying, the Fearless Master could never work up any irritation towards Ayame, who possessed much the same trait.

The spirits followed the scowling ninja master out of his office and down to the medical rooms.

* * *

The Hard Master erupted in the infirmary aware that he looked dangerously angry and quite content with the fact. The medic had been instructed to perform the autopsy right away, yet here we were nearly six hours later and he still hadn't reported the result.

The medic was at his desk, writing. He lifted his head and motioned the clan master to sit.

"I was just writing the report," he said before going back to writing.

The Hard Master held his temper in check as well as he could; the cause of death was vitally important. If his brother had been poisoned, or killed in some other fashion, their would-be allies were the prime suspects and an alliance between the two clans would be out of the question – in fact, a full blown clan war would be practically impossible to avoid. Consequently, he wanted an answer NOW, not after the medic was done writing a lengthy report.

"Well?" he asked. "What was it? Was he poisoned? Did someone hit a pressure point without any of us seeing it?"

"Not at all," the doctor answered with a strangely worried tone. "I have details in here, and my reasons for my conclusions, but since you want a quick answer, I hope you'll be able to take my word for it until you get a chance to review the details." He took a deep breath. "Your brother had a fatal aneurysm. I realize it seems unlikely, but they can happen at any age, anytime, sometimes to seemingly healthy people."

The Hard Master let out a sigh of relief. His brother's death was still catastrophic, but at least there were no culprits to hunt and no revealed enemies.

"Ah!" The Insane Master exclaimed triumphantly, clapping his leg. He treated his wife to a very smug grin. "I knew nobody would ever manage to kill me! Imagine that! Full-time wage earner, among the most infamous ninjas in Japan, bravest warrior around, countless enemies… and I died of NATURAL CAUSES!" He buffed his nails, clearly extremely pleased with himself. "Nobody could take me down, had to do it myself."

Ayame rolled her eyes but couldn't help a smile. "Your brother is leaving," she pointed out. "Come on."

* * *

The Hard Master's wife, known to the whole clan as Obake Obaasan or Goblin Granny, raised her eyes from her notebook warily when her husband let himself into her office.

"Nothing?" he asked. The disappointment was obvious in his voice.

"There are options," she said with a sigh, "but the best I can do is to keep the property and feed the five of us: us two, the Soft Master, the Young Master and Kimiko."

The Hard Master sat heavily across the work table from her, not bothering to take a cushion and settling straight on the tatami mats.

"Even if I could bring myself to chase everyone else, we would be completely defenseless," he said.

"I know," she replied.

The Fearless Master frowned. As much as he enjoyed the thought that he had been precious to the clan, he didn't want his family to be facing hardships because of his passing. Beyond that, however, he couldn't understand why the two brains of the family weren't more concerned while not knowing how to replace the income he had been bringing in.

"They have a solution," Ayame mused next to him, echoing his own thoughts. "They must; they'd be in a panic otherwise."

The Hard Master's shoulders sagged. "They cannot extract him," he informed his wife.

Her eyes widened briefly. "Do you think he'll make it out of there on his own?"

"They're talking about Tommy," the Insane Master said, his frown deepening. "Why are they talking about Tommy? He won't want to take my job, he's been dead set on teaching since he was thirteen. Ayame? Why are they talking about Tommy?"

She shrugged and gestured him to be quiet.

The Hard Master shook his head. "I've instructed them not to inform him. Judging by their response, it's not that unusual a request."

Obake Obaasan nodded grimly. "So he'll find out when he comes back," she said. "At the same time as you'll have to tell him to take over from Tomisaburo… it will be a difficult homecoming." She sighed. "I will continue to look for additional sources of funds."

The Insane Master cursed and floated to the table to plant himself right in front of his brother, lowering himself through the table and the floor until they were face to face. He tried to grab the man's collar, but his immaterial hands could not seize the fabric. He settled for keeping his fists clenched on either side of the Hard Master's neck and leaning in until his nose was right in front of his brother's.

"You KNOW he'll do it!" he yelled, snarling and putting all his willpower into being heard. "He's going to hate every second of it, but he'll still do it and YOU KNOW IT! You slimy slave driving…"

"His father will be furious," the Goblin Granny suddenly said, "but he will hopefully realize that we would never demand this of Tommy were there any other choice and that we will continue to try finding another way to ensure our financial survival."

Tomisaburo whipped around to face her, but she was looking down at her notes. Ayame was behind her, reading over her shoulder.

"She really is trying," Ayame said sadly, meeting his eyes. "You should see some of the ideas she has in here… she's obviously been thinking hard. And if you're wondering, yes; she's probably heard you or at least sensed you. She's very receptive, I can almost always make her detect my presence."

Tomisaburo clenched his fists tighter. "Fine," he growled, "they're both trying really hard. I still don't want Tommy to find out I'm dead the same second he gets told he can't teach."

He disappeared. Ayame sighed and willed herself by his side, although she had a pretty solid guess where she'd find him.

She was not disappointed: she found Tomisaburo crouched by Tommy's sleeping form. He looked up at her, looking unnaturally serious.

"How do I make it so he kind of knows but thinks he's imagining things? I don't want to chance letting him know for sure," he said, touching the scar left by that sword slash 16 years earlier, "but I don't want it to be a complete surprise."

* * *

_- The following day -_

Wilkinson sat himself next to Tommy when the small patrol stopped for lunch and a short break. The kid had barely said a word all morning, and it was creeping him out. Also, from a practical standpoint, he needed to make sure his soldier was not being so unusually quiet due to some illness he wasn't disclosing.

"Are you sick?" he asked. "You need to tell me if you are."

Tommy blinked at him. "I'm not," he said, "and if I was, I WOULD tell you. I'm not stupid; I realize you'd need to know."

"Then what's with the silence treatment?" the sergeant asked.

Tommy shrugged. He'd been battling the unexplainable and extremely unpleasant feeling that his father had died all morning. He knew it had to be his imagination; he'd have no way to know if the Fearless Master did die, unless he saw his ghost or something like that, and he most certainly hadn't.

"Just thinking of home," he said. "I don't want it to distract me, so I've been focusing completely on our surroundings. More than usual."

Wilkinson nodded. Homesickness was pretty common, but Tommy seemed to have found a way to deal with it that worked for him and didn't distract from his duties.

"Write a letter," he instructed. "It'll make you feel better."

Reassured this one was fine, Wilkinson got up and moved to check on the rest of his men.

* * *

Thanks for reading! This is, as I mentioned, indulgence writing on my part. This part was kind of dramatic, and there'll be more of that as we go along, but the Insane Master should make for some fun stuff too.

I hope people are still enjoying this.

Edit: I just realized something that may be confusing to anyone who hasn't read or doesn't remember much from Arashikage. In the flashback at the beginning of this chapter, Fearless Master mentions there are plenty of wage earners and it doesn't matter that Tommy doesn't want to be one. Yet, after his death, the finances of the clan depend on Tommy earning wages rather than teaching.

In between, in fact while Tommy was at war, I had the Japanese government launch a war against ninja, so to speak. Most clans lost a lot of less passionate and/or loyal teachers, bounty hunters and students, including the Arashikage. (Not so much through their being arrested as being deterred from being honest-to-goodness ninjas.) What few wage earners are left don't share enough of their revenues with the clan to keep it afloat, which is why Fearless Master says he was bringing in most of the revenue before his death. For details if you want any, read the first few chapters of Arashikage. :)


	3. Chapter 3: Death of a Master Revisited

The Hard Master was still in his dojo, with the Soft Master and Tommy's friend, when he awoke. He almost thought, for a moment, that he was still alive: he hadn't moved, and no time seemed to have passed. Absently, he tried to put his arms around his brother to comfort him. They of course went right through the other man, reminding him that he was only a spirit.

He noticed then that he could not hear his own heart, but could once again hear everything else around: his hearing was back to the best it had ever been. He got up and turned around, seeing his body just as the Soft Master deposited it back on the floor. His brother looked furious, and for a brief moment, the Hard Master thought he'd worried over nothing and that far from thinking less of their nephew for whatever lengths he'd go through to avenge him, the Soft Master would more likely than not be encouraging him. Although he had no interest whatsoever in their seeking revenge on his behalf, he could understand how they'd feel they had to, and it was a relief that they would at least be supporting each other.

The Soft Master cast his eyes around the room, obviously searching for a clue. His gaze stopped on the arrow that had ended the Hard Master's life, now embedded in a wooden post. His eyes widened and for almost a minute, he just stared.

The Hard Master frowned. He'd expected an explosion of anger as his brother figured out that not only had someone assassinated him, they had tried to pin the blame on Tommy, of all people. He did not understand the shock he could see in his brother's face, or the inner turmoil that was rendering him speechless.

And then the Soft Master spoke, barely a whisper but loud and clear to the Hard Master's newly restored hearing.

"Tommy… how could you?"

The Hard Master's eyes widened and although he had no actual heart in his new ethereal form, he still felt it skip a beat. At the very same time, he discovered that he could still feel some pain as someone screamed in disbelief right next to his ear.

"WHAT?"

He felt himself turned around and suddenly, he was staring into the ravaged face of his baby brother, who currently looked even scarier than usual thanks to a ferocious snarl.

"You just couldn't bother to be clear with your last words, could you? You just had to be all cryptic and mystical! Well go fix it! Tell that idiot of a brother of yours that there's no WAY Tommy did this!"

The Hard Master stepped back. He fought back a flare of irritation… he had rather pictured death to be quiet, not just one shock after another. But the Fearless Master was right, they had to set the Soft Master straight. Maybe things would settle down afterward and start making sense. Then he could hug his baby brother, and they could go see their sister, and let the living live peacefully.

He was next to his surviving sibling without really noting a transition, and put a hand on his shoulder. Or, rather, he tried; his hand actually went right through the Soft Master's shoulder and partway through his back. The Hard Master rolled his eyes at himself; he was a spirit, of course he couldn't touch things.

Hopefully, however, he could still communicate a little. He concentrated on his words, putting as much will as he could behind them. "Brother," he thundered, foregoing a more polite tone to maximize his chances of being heard. "You're being a fool! You know just as well as I do that Tommy is loyal to a fault! He would NEVER hurt any of us!"

The Soft Master did not react, instead still seemingly lost in thought. The Hard Master cast a glance at his last apprentice, Tommy's best friend: the young man's pulse and breathing were understandably elevated and his eyes were wide.

"Tommy?" he asked. "You don't think…"

The Hard Master turned to him fully as to a beacon of hope. His brother could not hear him, but his student might. He was, after all, conditioned to listen to and obey his sensei.

"YOU know better, Apprentice," he said, just as loudly as when he'd tried to talk to the Soft Master. "Tommy is your friend, and you know him. You know he wouldn't…"

The Soft Master's voice cut him off. ""Who else could shoot with such precision?" he asked. There was more bitterness in his voice than the Hard Master had ever heard. "Who else would have access to his arrows? The Young Master's guilt would be obvious even if we hadn't seen him running away. Bring him to me, alive or not. The rest of the clan will receive the same instructions."

"NO!" the Fearless Master roared. The Hard Master stepped out of the way as his youngest brother lunged at the Soft Master. The spirit of course dove right through the still living man; and because it was the spirit of the Insane Master, it tried to tackle its target twice more, all the while screaming.

"You just ordered him KILLED! You just ordered MY SON KILLED! Nobody's going to try and take him alive if you give them the choice! TAKE IT BACK! You stupid fat idiot, TAKE IT BACK!"

The Hard Master bit his lips: it was clear that the Soft Master could not hear their brother at all: he was arguing back and forth with Tommy's friend, who at least had the sense to question the older man's conclusions. Tragically, however, the Soft Master was adamant and only answered with what he clearly felt was overwhelming evidence against the Young Master.

The Hard Master posted himself next to his apprentice and, since volume did not seem to make any difference on whether the living heard them or not, decided to attempt a different strategy.

"You know he's wrong. You know it. He's wrong, he's completely wrong, and you know it. Tommy is innocent. You can't kill him, you can't even bring him here. He's innocent. You know it. You owe him your life, the least you can do is trust him. The Soft Master is wrong. You know it."

He went on like this through the whole argument. His apprentice did not show any obvious reaction, but when he left on the Soft Master's repeated order, he still seemed unconvinced of his friend's guilt. It was something, at least.

The Fearless Master was still yelling at the Soft Master, obviously also hoping to pierce through to their brother if he just kept trying long enough. He only stopped when a hand appeared on his shoulder. The Hard Master felt another tug at his heart when he recognized his long lost sister in law: Ayame, the only person able to make her husband act rationally.

"He can't hear you, dear. He's never been able to sense any of us at all, you know that."

"I'm going to kill him. I can't touch him now but I swear, the second he dies, I'm going to KILL him!" the Fearless Master said, snarling at the Soft Master who, oblivious, had left the small dojo and was walking towards the main building, his expression a mixture of grief and determination.

"Stop talking nonsense, this is really not the time!" the Hard Master scowled. "How do you hope to kill him AFTER he dies? You two have more experience at being spirits… is there ANYTHING we can do?"

"Spirits can feel each other," the Insane Master said in a low growl. "You can hurt another spirit. I tried it on the Akai a few times, and although you obviously can't stop their heart, injuries that would be lethal on the living will incapacitate a spirit for a short time, while they recover and heal. And then you can do it again," he added, getting a sadistic glint in his eyes.

"The Akai?" the Hard Master exclaimed, unable to help himself faced with this kind of foolishness. "We slaughtered them to the last! Is that not enough vengeance for you?" He shook his head. "Never mind. What do we do about our brother?"

"He's probably gone to deliver the news to your wife," Ayame said quickly, addressing the Hard Master but shooting her husband a significant glare that cut off any reply he may have been about to give his brother.

"Can she really sense spirits?" the Hard Master asked urgently. His Obake had always felt that she could, but up to finding himself one, the Hard Master had been rather uncertain of the very existence of ghosts and spirits and had therefore never fully shared his wife's beliefs.

Ayame nodded and flew after the Soft Master, followed by her husband and her brother in law.

* * *

The woman known as Obake Obaasan was, despite the late hour, still very much awake and she was getting rather impatient. She was waiting up to corner her nephew and talk him into moving back into his own house rather than staying in the quarters he'd been occupying. The fact he'd been allowed to do that in the first place was, in her personal view, a mistake; the boy hadn't wanted to face the empty house he had shared with his father, and the Soft Master had indulged the silly request, not thinking that his nephew feeling lonely would have been a good thing, since it may have prompted the boy to resume his old habit of sharing his bed as often as possible and therefore increase the odds of the next generation of Arashikage being conceived.

The irritation she felt at Tomisaburo junior being late was replaced by concern when she felt her husband, accompanied by the Soft Master and, doubtless unbeknownst to the two men, the Fearless Master and Ayame, approaching. She turned towards them, and suddenly felt as though her world had just collapsed.

The Soft Master was alone, looking both miserable and furious. She could sense her husband, she knew he was there, just like Tomisaburo and Ayame.

Exactly like Tomisaburo and Ayame.

She heard a gasp come out of her mouth and slapped her hands to it. Her vision blurred as her eyes flooded, and she felt her legs weaken.

She tried to fall back on practical matters, but she found herself facing the idea that the clan was now in the hands of the well-meaning but ultimately rather foolish Soft Master. Speaking of her brother in law, he had reached her and he pulled her into a hug. She hated hugs and was in no mood to tolerate one; she pried his arms off and scowled at him.

"I can see you've already guessed," the Soft Master said softly, tactfully acting as though she had not just pushed him away. "I am so sorry. He…" he stopped a second and swallowed. "He will be avenged, I can promise you that much."

Her eyes, still irritatingly filled with tears, widened. "Avenged? He was murdered? How do you intend to find the culprit?"

She felt the response from the three spirits before the Soft Master gave it: the three were furious, but Ayame and Tomisaburo's anger was nearly overshadowed by parental worry; the emotions may not fully explain how she knew this, but it was suddenly obvious that the Soft Master had somehow convinced himself that his brother had been killed by none other than their nephew. Furthermore, she found that she knew her brother in law was so sure of his conclusion that he intended for Tommy to be executed.

The Goblin Granny's eyes finally dried as her mind settled on taking care of business. The idea that Tommy would have killed his own kin was ridiculous in itself, but beyond that, the boy would never father the next generation if he was dead. She was aware of some alternatives, but they were, in her view, far from ideal; she needed to make the Soft Master see reason or barring that, to delay him and buy her nephew as much of a head start as she could.

"I already know who did it," the Soft Master said.

"I don't understand," she lied. "If you saw the murderer, how did he still succeed in killing my husband?"

The Soft Master shook his head sadly. "I saw him too late; his arrow had already claimed my brother's life."

"If you didn't see the shot, are you sure you have the right man?"

"I love this woman," the Hard Master said, smiling fondly. "She's guessed, you know. She's stalling him to buy Tommy some time."

"Guessed? Brother, she simply heard us screaming at her. Although right now, I love her too… not as much as my dearest deadly flower, mind you," he added quickly to Ayame, who rolled her eyes at him.

Meanwhile, the Soft Master had just voiced his conclusion that the Young Master had been the murderer.

"Nonsense," Obake Obaasan said. "Our nephew would not betray us. Grief has clouded your judgment, Soft Master."

The Soft Master shook his head again and sighed. "I need to send the others after him," he said apologetically, backing up a step. "I am certain of this, and I promise to explain in details in a minute…"

"You are NOT sending anyone after the last of the Arashikage line on a hunch, Soft Master," she said, grasping his wrist. "What makes you so sure he's guilty that you are willing to effectively end the Arashikage?"

"It won't be the end," the Soft Master said. He was frowning now and looking at the hand holding his wrist, very obviously debating whether to wrestle free of his newly widowed sister in law. "I can father a child."

The Fearless Master gagged. "I did NOT need that mental image," he groaned.

"He means artificial insemination," the Hard Master specified. "It's been plan B ever since Tommy left for the war. She's just playing dumb."

The Soft Master disengaged his wrist. "I'm very sorry, but I have orders to give. I will be back shortly." He turned his back on her and walked away.

The Goblin Granny frowned at his back, thinking furiously.

"Please, wait!" she cried out. "Please. Don't send his brothers and sisters after my nephew without so much as letting me hear why. You know your brother always respected my opinion, will you not do the same?"

She hated to beg, but if it worked, she'd be able to avoid a physical fight with the Soft Master.

It worked. The Soft Master sagged and turned back towards her. He took an arrow out of his gi and started explaining.

* * *

"I'm going to kill him," the Insane Master repeated for the tenth time, pacing and kicking at imaginary dust. "Slowly. And then fast. And then slowly again. Then slower." He cursed loudly, and the foul words eventually turned into a roar of rage.

Obake Obaasan had only managed to retain the Soft Master for about half an hour, and the new head of the Arashikage had then immediately proceeded to call all agents, teachers and students in the compound and to send them after the Young Master, informing them that their quarry had murdered the Hard Master and should be treated as a particularly dangerous foe. Again, he'd asked for him to be brought back dead or alive, effectively giving the clan his blessings to kill on sight.

Tommy's parents had gone to check on him, but the young man was fighting back panic and the spirits' presence, which was meant to be comforting, had instead been like adding oil to a fire. The Fearless Master and Ayame had retreated back to the realm of the dead, both in a murderous mood.

The Hard Master sighed. "What good will it do, Brother? Don't you think he will be miserable enough when he finds out the truth? I would have hoped that you would finally let go of revenge in death. It's just like for the Akai… have you really been hunting them? Why? We destroyed their clan completely, we killed every one of them safe for the youngest infants. How can you possibly feel any more justice is needed?"

Ayame looked away. The Fearless Master snarled at his older brother. "Because our sister is not here," he said. "The kids were never imagining things, Brother. Kimiko's mother really is still home."

* * *

**Author's Notes**

What's this? An actual plotline (other than the one already played out in Arashikage, that is)? Oh me, oh my.

I figured if I was going to do a 'ghost' story, I may as well do a ghost story. Plus, I feel that Kimi and Tommy sharing the belief that Kimi's mother is a ghost helps explain the solidity of Tommy's beliefs as depicted in 'First Blood'.

Thanks for reading, I hope this still works for you. And, please, go read _Brotherly Love_ by CrystalofEllinon. It's really awesome (like everything she writes, really) and fits right in with this story; so much so that I will not be writing a scene following the Soft Master's death, because as far as I'm concerned, that scene is already written.

On insulting the Soft Master: I actually have nothing against the character (no, really)! To me, he's someone who made a very, very bad mistake and later tried to make amends. The fat comment is the Insane Master talking, and he's angry. You can't expect him to be politically correct. As for Obake Obaasan calling him foolish, well, she has rather high standards. She thinks pretty much everyone is foolish except (maybe) her husband and herself.

Please remember that reviews make me happy!


	4. Chapter 4: Ghost Story

**Author's Notes**

The first scene of this chapter takes place during the Akai attack on the Arashikage compound that took place when Tommy was 14. In my verse, Kimi is 8 years younger than he is, and therefore 6.

If you're curious, more details on the Akai attack can be found in the story Clan War. That story also features the Fearless Master as he is when he's actually serious. Not a very common sight, but it has been known to happen in extreme circumstances… after all, he wouldn't have lived through such circumstances otherwise.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Ghost Story**

"But Mooom! I'm SIX! I'm a big kid! I can fight! I'll fight other kids!"

Misao Arashikage scowled at her daughter, then took a deep breath and counted to ten. She needed to explain this calmly if there was any chance of Kimiko obeying her instructions. She glanced around, looking for her nephew: the teenager was often able to reason with his young cousin, and barring that, could be trusted to hold her still for as long as needed. Tommy was nowhere to be seen, however; he was no doubt on a roof with the other older students, helping out by killing what Akai they could with their arrows, as opposed to here in the rafters of an out of the way building.

She knelt in front of her child. Outside, many battles were raging, and the dead were multiplying – many of them Arashikage. She put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"Kimi, I know you're a big kid. You're incredibly courageous, and you're a very good fighter for your age. But there are no kids out there for you to fight; they're all grown ups, and your arms and legs are too short to fight grown ups. You understand that, don't you?"

"But I want to fight!"

Ah, the infamous 'but I want' argument… the kunoichi felt her patience waver again. "If you try to fight today, you will die. Is that what you want?"

"No, I won't!"

"Yes, you will. Kimiko, even Tommy's not allowed to fight, and you know he can knock you down in half a second flat. You will stay here, and I don't want to hear another word," she concluded in a stern voice. "Do I have to get your aunt here?"

The threat of involving the Goblin Granny worked; it always did. Kimiko swallowed back whatever answer she'd been about to give and shook her head.

Misao nodded, gave her daughter a hug and dropped to the floor to go join the fray. A quick listen having revealed that nobody was standing right outside the door, she let herself out and ran to the edge of the compound before heading back towards the battles; she did not want the Akai to see her arrive from the direction her daughter and several other children were hiding.

She immediately spotted the group of Arashikage in most desperate need of help: four of the wage earners were being overwhelmed by twice as many Akai. She joined the battle, and was able to deflect what would have been a fatal hit on one of her brothers and to dispatch one of the enemy before a blade ran through her heart.

This wouldn't do. She couldn't just die, she needed to watch after Kimiko. She needed to make sure the Akai didn't get her. Foolish child could sneak out of the rafters anytime… she had to keep an eye on her, she had to protect her.

Her body fell, lifeless, but Misao kept fighting, oblivious to the fact nothing she did had the slightest effect on the combatants. When she ran out of opponents, she went home; she had to make sure none of them were in there, had to make sure the house was and stayed safe for Kimiko.

* * *

_- Two months later - _

"You're STILL here?"

Tommy ignored his fellow student, narrowed his eyes and released his arrow, letting it fly straight to the target and, much to his satisfaction, partway through the concrete wall that target was attached to. He turned to his brother with a smirk.

"See that, Takeru-kun? I bet I get it right through by next month," he declared.

Takeru snorted. "You're a menace to concrete buildings everywhere," he said. "Now if you're quite done overachieving, we're going out to the festival tonight… we got actual permission and everything. You coming too?"

Tommy shook his head, putting his bow away. "Not with you guys, sorry; I'm babysitting Kimiko tonight. I'm going to take her to the festival after dinner, but we'll probably be back before you guys even leave here."

"Ah well," Takeru said, shrugging. "Win her a hideous stuffed toy."

Tommy snickered. "I'm pretty sure she's going to con me into winning her a bunch of stuff. AND into carrying it all, not to mention carrying her on my shoulders all the way back here."

"You're whipped. By a six year old."

Tommy shrugged. "Least I can do," he said. "Besides, she's cute."

* * *

"I knew this would happen, you know," Tommy informed his cousin. "I chose to let it happen."

Kimiko giggled from up on his shoulders. The two were just getting back to her house after a couple of hours at the festival, where she'd successfully made her big cousin win her at least one prize from every skill game there. She was now enjoying a piggy ride back home.

"Am I too heavy?" she teased.

"A bit," Tommy teased back. "Must be those cakes uncle sends you…"

She blew a raspberry at the back of his head. "You just need to get stronger."

He waved a stuffed pink elephant at her. "This says differently."

She grabbed the elephant and squeezed it, easily balancing herself on Tommy's shoulder without using her hands. "Thanks for the prizes," she said.

He acquired a very smug look. "You're welcome," he said. "it's not like it was difficult. Those games are child's play for a nearly fully trained ninja."

She giggled again. "I'm going to show them to Mom," she said.

"Good idea," Tommy answered, figuring Kimiko just meant to show the toys to her mother's altar and so to her spirit.

He put her down once they were inside the house, and she eagerly grabbed the various prizes from him. She didn't go to the altar however, instead turning right back towards the door.

Tommy cocked his head. "Err, Kimi? Don't you like the altar?"

Kimi sighed heavily. "You can't see her either?" she whined, pointing at the door. "She's right HERE!"

Tommy's eyes widened and he swallowed. He did in fact feel a presence whenever he came in the house lately, but the feeling always went away pretty quickly. He'd gladly concluded he'd been imagining things, but if Kimiko was right, he stopped feeling the spirit simply because he was stepping away from where it was.

But that wasn't how spirits worked, it couldn't be. He could feel his mother's presence when he thought about her very hard, but although it was easier to do that when using her altar, he had never thought her to be in one particular spot, and he had certainly never seen her.

He walked back towards the door. After a few steps, he shivered violently. He forced himself to stay put and to focus on the feeling. He could almost hear something… he was forcefully reminded of his early seeing ear training, when he'd train himself to hear the change in the movement of the wind as it moved around obstacles. He closed his eyes and visualized his aunt as she was before her death, and that's when the feelings hit.

Caring, fear. Love, despair. Powerlessness, determination. Every emotion powerful, overwhelming.

He jumped away from the door with a yelp, lost his balance and fell on his backside.

"Kimi…" he breathed, not bothering to get up just yet. "You can SEE her? With your eyes? Don't pretend now, this is important. We can go right back to pretending after, okay? But tell me for real."

His cousin pouted. "How come nobody else can see her?" she asked angrily, fists clenched. "She's not THAT transparent!"

Tommy swallowed again before he could get a hold of himself.

He then got back up and forced himself to snicker. "Don't ask me, I'm terrible at this stuff. I can't even see MY mom. I can tell you're right, though, Aunt Misao IS there. So, aren't you going to show her your new toys?"

He stepped back while Kimi started doing just that, detailing for her mother the full story behind every prize. He supposed he shouldn't let her go on like that, it was obviously a tactic to delay her bedtime, but he needed a few minutes to think so he let her have her fun.

He had never felt his mother's presence nearly as strongly, he'd never been able to tune in to her emotions like that. And he dared hope his mother was not experiencing anything this intense, this terrifying. And Kimiko could actually SEE her, clearly enough to be constantly surprised and frustrated that nobody else could.

His aunt had almost certainly been fearing for her daughter's life when she had been killed herself, and it was now clear that she had not left that fear behind to move on. His aunt, to whom Kimiko was happily explaining that the plastic snake she was waving around had been won by popping a balloon with a thrown needle, hadn't moved on at all and was trapped in her own emotions, quite possibly forever.

He took a deep breath; he had no idea how to explain this to a small child. He wasn't even sure that he should. He needed advice, and until he could get it, he needed to pretend everything was perfectly fine.

When Kimi finally ran out of toys to talk about, he told her to say goodnight, did so himself as well, and started her normal bedtime routine. If he let on at all that he was bothered by her being able to see her mother, she didn't notice.

* * *

_- 8 years later -_

_Kimiko would be safe._

_The Akai would not get her daughter; she would never allow it. She was standing guard, they would not get in the house._

_They wouldn't get her baby._

_Someone coming in… not Akai. She ignored them and returned to her watch._

* * *

"Is she always like this?" the Hard Master asked, waving a hand in front of his sister's face.

"Yes," Ayame answered softly. "She can see and hear us, but she immediately dismisses our presence. She completely ignores us."

"Eight years," the Fearless Master growled. "Eight years she's been here, standing guard even when Kimi's not even home!"

The Hard Master frowned; since their niece was in fact not home tonight, having been sent to look for Tommy along with the other students, his brother was obviously right. "Can't she see Kimi? Didn't she see her leave tonight? Doesn't she see her leave every day?"

"Yes," Ayame answered, "she even tries to keep her home, I've seen it. She just forgets right away."

"She's trapped, Brother," the Fearless Master said, "she will always be. Are you still going to tell me we need to forgive the Akai and let bygones be bygones? This is NOT a bygone!" His voice rose and he moved to talk straight into his older brother's face. "LOOK AT HER!" he roared. "She's scared! It's obvious she thinks the attack is still going on and that her daughter is still in danger! She's going to be here, scared to death for Kimi, forever! And trust me, the Akai is going to pay forever too," he finished, his voice going back down to a low growl.

"I assume you've tried telling her the battle was over?"

"Of course," Ayame said quickly, cutting off what would no doubt have been a much angrier answer from her husband. "So has Obake Obaasan."

The Hard Master's eyes widened briefly at the mention of his wife. Although he had respected it, he had never shared her belief in ghosts and spirits. Because of that, he'd never been of any assistance to her whatsoever in dealing with the dead; for all he knew, the only reason his sister was currently the only ghost in the compound was because his wife had been successful in sending others to the afterlife.

Perhaps precisely because he'd just been thinking of her, he was the first to hear his wife approach. The three spirits stayed put and waited, curious as to the woman's purpose in coming here at a time like this.

The Goblin Granny had the same effect, when she came in, as her deceased husband and brother and sister-in-law had had: the ghost looked at her briefly, then proceeded to act as though there was nobody there. The thus admitted living visitor bowed to the ghost and then looked towards the three other dead presences looming there.

"I thought you might be here," she said. "Considering how emotional he tends to be, I'm guessing none of you can go near Tommy right now without making things worse. I thought you'd like to know that he is still at large."

She paused for a moment. She could feel the agitation from the spirits, and although she could not hear them, she could guess that at the very least, Tomisaburo Sr would need a few seconds to rant.

"As for Misao," she continued, locking her eyes on the ghostly shape of her unfortunate sister-in-law, "I believe she will only find peace when she realizes her daughter no longer needs her protection. So far, I have been completely unable to impress upon her that the rest of us will take care of Kimi. It's possible she will be less worried once the girl has grown up into a fully capable kunoichi."

"Ayame says she can see her," the Hard Master said. "Doesn't she realize she's grown? Can't she see the battle with the Akai is long over?"

The Goblin Granny shook her head sadly. "I wish I could hear you, husband, but I can barely tell you're trying to talk to me." She took a deep breath. "I have no other insight or information. I suspect you will generally be able to keep tabs on Tommy better than me. I will of course assist him when I can, and will continue to try and force some sense in my brother in law's thick head."

She took another deep breath, turned around and walked out. The spirits had no comfort to offer her beyond the knowledge of their existence, and not being able to fully communicate was more than ever extremely frustrating. She was better off starting her search for her husband's real murderer than lingering here.

The Hard Master sighed, fists clenched in frustration. He'd almost tried to grab his wife to keep her from leaving, hoping that even if he could not physically touch her, she'd somehow detect the attempt and stay a while longer.

"You can follow her wherever she goes," Ayame said. "I just found it frustrating, but unlike MY spouse, she at least knows you're there. Maybe it won't be as bad for you."

"You followed me around?" the Fearless Master said. "Really? I never noticed anything at all. Couldn't you have given me some nice dreams at least?" he asked with a roguish grin.

"What makes you think I didn't?" she replied with a smirk. "But the fact is, you're just as oblivious to spirits as your brothers. I followed you around for several days, and only gave up on it when you almost got yourself killed. I was worried I was somehow making you more distracted."

"I can't do that," the Hard Master said in answer to his sister-in-law's suggestion, willfully ignoring the exchange that had followed. "Even just these few minutes were difficult for her." He shook his head to clear his mind and turned back to the ghost; she was still standing watch, paying them no mind at all.

"What will it take for you to know Kimi will be fine?" he asked Misao. "She's practically grown now, and it certainly doesn't seem to be enough to convince you." His eyes widened. "It wouldn't, would it? She was an independent little thing, always claiming she could do everything herself and that she was a big kid. You knew better then, and you think you still know better now."

"She's not practically grown anyway," the Fearless Master remarked. "She's barely a teenager and she's small for her age."

Ayame nodded. "A few more years may do it. I know it's difficult to just wait, but we don't have any other options right now."

The Hard Master reluctantly nodded. He didn't think Kimi being taller and older would be enough to convince his sister, but it was certain to be one of the things necessary.

After swearing to be back, promises which were not acknowledged in any way by the ghost, the three spirits left.


	5. Chapter 5: Tough Love

**Author's Notes:**

This chapter contains spoilers if you haven't read Arashikage – can't be helped, the events are directly linked. Now that you've been warned… this mostly takes place between chapters 31 and 32 of Arashikage, at a time where Tommy is temporarily clinically dead. Although Snake Eyes running him through was not what killed him, he has been unconscious since and so, is unaware of that.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Tough Love**

Tommy woke up in his old bed, in the house he had shared many years with his father in the Arashikage compound.

Since he'd last been on a battlefield in the Eastern US, this was already a bit of a clue that something beyond the everyday was going on. The fact he felt no pain despite knowing he'd just been run through was also a rather strong hint.

The real deal-sealer, however, was that he was looking at both his parents sitting by his bed, smiling down at him.

His very much dead parents.

He found himself hugging them without being quite conscious of having moved, but he could think of nothing to say, his brains unable to settle on what to make of it all. He was relieved, elated even, at finally being free again. His happiness, however, was seriously tainted with worry; his brother had killed him with that sword strike, possibly without fully intending to since he was desperately defending his girlfriend at the time. Snake Eyes would almost certainly be crippled with guilt; the man tended to be crippled with guilt for the smallest things. And yet, the concern for his brother was but an echoing note against that for his uncle; he had now officially failed to avenge the Hard Master, despite everything he'd done.

The thought helped to steer his emotions firmly in one direction: he had failed, despite everything. The failure was bad enough, but it was the 'everything' that really stung; he had dishonoured himself and his clan, and he'd never be able to make any kind of amends, to restore any of that honour. In all likelihood, he had made things worse for his uncle and possibly for every last one of his ancestors. On the other hand, he was finally done making things worse.

"Why so quiet, boy?" his father asked with a snicker. "Don't tell me you're still trying to figure this out. Honestly, your mother and I should be a dead giveaway."

Tommy didn't have time to come up with an answer to the horrible pun; twin disgusted groans came from the other side of his bed, behind him. Again without being fully aware of actually moving, he found himself facing in that direction, startled there was anybody there at all and in disbelief as to who it appeared to be.

The Hard Master was scowling at his youngest brother across the bed, a fact which did not quell the Insane Master's snickering in the slightest. The Soft Master was looking at Tommy with the same regretful expression he'd had the last time he had seen him alive and free of the Arashikage mindset he had been in at the time of his death.

"You do realize where you are, don't you?" he asked. "You just don't know how to react."

Tommy nodded absently, his eyes fixed on the Hard Master who finally stopped glaring at the Fearless Master and looked back. His scowl deepened and without warning, he slapped his nephew.

"Foolish boy!"

Neither the slap nor the insult registered much, drowned as they were in a powerful surge of relief.

"You're… you're okay!" Tommy stammered.

"Yes!" his uncle snapped. "As you can plainly see, I'm just fine! I absolutely did not need my bone head of a nephew to avenge me!"

"Brother…" the Soft Master started.

"Yes," the Fearless Master interrupted, addressing his son but glaring at the Hard Master. "He's his usual adorable cuddly self, as you can see."

"Can you blame him?" Tommy flared up. "I made a complete mess of everything!"

"You had good intentions," the Soft Master interceded. "You just didn't know…"

The Hard Master cut him off. "He would have if he'd ever LISTENED."

"Can't disagree on this one," the Fearless Master said. "We did try to tell you, Tommy. Remember after that first time you had to kill some soldiers so you and the Cobra Commander could escape? What's the point of calling out to me if you're not going to listen to a thing I say?"

Tommy's eyes widened and he stared blankly at his father, at a loss as to what to say. He remembered the incident very clearly, but as you would expect when addressing a spirit, he had felt more than heard the answer. He could guess now that he had misinterpreted.

"You asked me to help your mind stay strong," his father needlessly reminded him.

"Yes, I know, I…"

"Because you knew you were shaming yourself and the clan, and you wanted to stop, but you were convinced doing so would condemn your uncle to an eternity as a vengeful ghost," the Soft Master interceded.

Ayame bit her lips. She had agreed to let the brothers handle the conversation, and had agreed to their intent on being less than tender. The plan was rough, having been decided on in mere seconds, but it was also very simple and should be easy to follow. Yet the Soft Master had already faltered completely, Tomisaburo was struggling to keep on course… the last thing they needed was for her to get involved and take Tommy's side. They couldn't be gentle, they needed to make a strong impression if they had any hope Tommy's subconscious would retain anything at all. They assumed his conscious mind wouldn't: people nearly always forgot everything when they went back, in some cases going so far as spending the rest of their lives convinced there was no after life.

Of course, all this assumed that the GI Joe medical staff would manage to bring Tommy back and that he would not remain dead. None of them wanted to think of the actual odds, and besides, it didn't really matter: if Tommy stayed dead, they would have eternity to calm him back down from the frenzy he would no doubt be in by the time they were done with him now. Her son's voice brought her mind back to the present.

"Wait," he said, frowning. "I didn't say any of that. How…"

"Do you honestly think we need actual sound waves to hit our ears to hear you?" the Hard Master asked. "Would that be the ashes of our physical ears, or these immaterial ones?" he continued in a mocking tone, pointing at his real looking, but indeed strictly spiritual, ears. "Your 'surface' thoughts were audible to us from the moment you set your mind to talking to us."

"And I very clearly told you to stop, that your uncle was fine, and that you were being an idiot!" the Fearless Master cried out, throwing his arms wide. Ayame had to lean back to avoid being hit by her husband's flailing limbs. She pushed the offending harm out of her way to straighten back up.

"Besides," she said with a smirk, reasoning that a bit of humour would make the conversation more believable for Tommy, "if the Hard Master really had needed you to avenge him, if everything you were doing really had been necessary, what you thought your father was telling you would have been reasonable. Didn't that make you suspicious?"

The Fearless Master pouted at his wife. "I can too say reasonable things."

The Hard Master clenched his teeth. Things were getting off track even quicker than he had feared; he had expected the other three not to be harsh enough for long, but to have already veered into pleasant banter was ridiculous; the boy would not retain any of it. At least Tommy did not seem to be relaxing: he turned to him, looking ready for a tongue lashing.

The Hard Master did not intend to disappoint. He deepened his scowl and forced his voice into a snarling growl. "Speaking of that very occasion, and many others since, would you care to explain how you figured killing for payment was supposed to serve my interests? Ten generations since we decided we were better than trained attack dogs! And YOU ruined it!"

His brothers and sister in law wisely stayed quiet. Even the Fearless Master bit his lips, although he looked like he would have a few choice words to say once Tommy was back in the land of the living. Or once they established he wasn't going back, as the case may be.

The Young Master, however, appeared divided between shame and anger, his brow trembling and his jaw set. Anger quickly won out. "I did what I thought I had to! I put your eternal peace above my honour!"

"You turned your back on everything we taught you and you dishonoured the whole clan! So I ask again, how did you figure this was going to bring me peace? You've just been using this as an excuse to go after the payback YOU wanted! And don't bother claiming you actually hated it and would have stopped long ago if it had been up to you. I don't care if you believe it yourself, it's still a lie! You rationalized your actions with a comfortable illusion of having the moral high ground!"

Thankfully out of Tommy's line of sight, Ayame was now having to physically restrain her husband. How long he'd let her was anybody's guess.

For his part, the son of the Fearless Master was snarling and looking nearly as savage as his father. "You're the one hiding behind a comfortable illusion, Hard Master. You want zero responsibility in what I did, so you convinced yourself you had nothing to do with it! Well you don't need to! It WAS all my fault! And it was FOR you, not because of you! I just didn't want you to end up like Aunt Misao!"

The Hard Master had been, in life, the second scariest person in the clan to the students; second only to his wife, the Goblin Granny. Part of his reputation was due to the swiftness with which he could make you wonder how your various body parts could hurt so much without being broken or otherwise permanently damaged, but the other part was that he could make his voice grow so cold and menacing that you found yourself begging him to just kill you quickly.

Death had not dulled that particular edge at all. "And does it seem to you now like your mission of vengeance was at all necessary for my peace of mind?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

Tommy felt a skin that was not there to hear the icy tone crawl anyway. Despite his current lack of saliva – or throat - he gulped. "I thought you did," he replied lamely.

"You were wrong." The eyes were still narrowed, the tone still chilling. The Hard Master had decided that reason was, as usual, not going to work on his nephew. Given that their time was probably very limited, he couldn't afford to waste any more time on it.

The Young Master attempted a reply. "I…"

"You have wasted your life," the Hard Master cut him off.

"You were our future," the Soft Master added, getting back on what little script they had managed to agree on when they had realized they would be able to talk to Tommy for what they hoped would be a short time. "And now you've ruined everything we've ever worked for. The Arashikage is gone, and it died in shame."

Tommy winced. The words hurt, and the fact they were correct hurt even more.

"This wouldn't be nearly as bad if you hadn't gone and got yourself killed," the Fearless Master remarked. "Corpses suck at reclaiming one's honour."

Tommy's eyes widened. "What about ghosts?" he asked. "If I could…"

The Hard Master's eyebrows shot up and he could have sworn his absent heart skipped a beat. How had he failed to predict the Young Master would, as ever, jump to the worst possible conclusion?

"You know better than that," Ayame scolded, cutting her son off. "If you were a ghost, you'd fixate on something, just like your aunt, and would accomplish nothing for all eternity. Just like your aunt! Listen to yourself," she continued angrily, "you actually got the easy way out; You DIED and now no one can make you fix your mess! And yet you're STILL trying to get out of trouble by accepting some token punishment!"

"To be fair, there's just nothing else he CAN do at this point," her husband pointed out. "And may I say that you're really turning me on right now, dear?" he added, waggling his eyebrows at her. "I love it when you're lecturing."

Three glares from his brothers and his wife brought his mind back to the task at hand. He cleared his throat and turned back to his son. "Your mother is right. You can't fix this and you can't make it better."

"You have cost us and our ancestors any peace of mind we may have ever enjoyed in this eternal life," Ayame added.

"And by failing to perpetuate the clan, you even made absolutely sure that nobody else would redeem you," the Hard Master said with a snarl. "Unless you think Snake Eyes will? You know his first duty is not to us."

Tommy was hugging his knees by this point, clearly miserable. Even better, he was ever so slightly fading. The Soft Master decided it was time to end the conversation on the planned hopeful note.

"He appears to be going back," he said, addressing the others.

Tommy's head shot up. "I'm what?"

Ayame, right on cue, pounced on him. "Looks like you're not getting off easy after all," she said quickly. "Don't you waste this chance, Tomisaburo. Clean your mess."

Tommy's face fell. "How am I supposed to do that? There's too much…"

The Hard Master slapped him again, with as much strength as he ever had in life, giving him the impression that his head should have flown off from the blow.

"Since when is giving up an option?" he thundered.

"At least try. You'll achieve a good deal more that way than if you don't," the Soft Master said. This bit of wisdom was practically gospel when teaching: it got repeated to students time and time again.

"And it's not in your blood to fail," the Fearless Master added, buffing his nails.

Ayame gripped her son's shoulder tighter: it was fading faster now. "You have a chance to make amends. Take it. Just do your best."

"Exactly. I broke the Soft Master's arm, once," the Insane Master mused, "right before he was supposed to teach an advanced sword technique to his apprentice."

The Soft Master scowled at him. "Yes, and you thought the best way to make up for it was to break HIS arm, too."

"It was!" his younger brother insisted. "Point is, I did my best to repair my mistake."

The Hard Master palmed his forehead, distantly marvelling at the fact that even here, Tomisaburo senior could give him a headache.

He turned to yell at Tommy some more, to help impress upon him that his only hope was to live so that the boy would not opt for a ritual suicide – he WAS Ayame's son and had inherited her taste for the dramatic, making it entirely possible that he would indeed decide to wash his dishonour with seppuku like a bloody samurai.

He didn't get the chance: Tommy was gone, back to the realm of the living thanks to the GI Joe's medics. Hopefully, they had managed to make enough of an impression already.

* * *

"…We tell them that their duty, as our students, is to do their absolute best even when they think they will never succeed, because doing their best will at least ensure they achieve as much as they possibly can," Tommy told the GI Joe General. They were flying back from Antarctica, where Tommy had helped apprehend the Cobra Commander and Hawk was asking the ninja what his intentions were for the future.

"I intend to follow the same advice now:" Tommy continued. "I know I have no hope to ever fully redeem myself for my actions over the past twelve years, but I will devote the rest of my life to trying my absolute best to do just that. I'm fully aware that I will fail and still die without having restored my honour, but at least I will have lifted the dishonour as much as I possibly can. It's the only acceptable course of action."

The Soft Master sighed in relief. Next to him, the Fearless Master was giving his wife a high-five. The Hard Master actually smiled.

"I'm the one who told him corpses suck at making amends," Tommy's father said proudly, buffing his nails. "My boy listens when I talk. Did you hear that? He's obviously going to try and stay alive for as long as he can."

"Tommy would be even less sane than he is if he had ever been in the habit of listening to you, Brother," the Hard Master replied.

Tomisaburo Senior cocked his head, considering, before shrugging. "Yeah, probably. Still, I'm not imagining things, right? He's going to be okay?"

Ayame nodded. "Guilt as a reason to live may not be ideal, but it's far better than guilt as a reason to die."

A thought suddenly struck the Soft Master, who lost his smile and hurriedly turned to his older brother. "You don't think he'll…" he trailed off, unwilling to even voice his concern.

The Hard Master scoffed. "Become a ghost like he suggested while he was dead? No."

"Weren't you listening?" Ayame piped in, smiling. "He said he'd devote the rest of his LIFE."

"And that by doing so, he will have done all he could," the Hard Master added.

The Insane Master positioned himself right in front of the Soft Master, eyes narrowed. "And that's very lucky for you," he said.

The Soft Master frowned right back at his brother. "I've spent every minute since we've seen him back in Mindbender's machine by his side, trying to help. I can't tell how much difference I made, but you know very well that I did my best."

"You didn't break anyone's arm," the Fearless Master pointed out.

The Soft Master's eyes widened, but his little brother didn't quite manage to keep a straight face, thankfully indicating that this particular bit of nonsense was intended as such. "I could go break a few Akai arms," he offered.

The Insane Master's face lit up. "Now you're talking. Let's go, I'm coming with. Now that Tommy's fine, these two can start working on Misao and they'll do that better without me around." And with that, he vanished. The Soft Master blinked, shrugged, and followed; his brother was right, the other two would think better without distractions.

* * *

Author's Notes

Thanks for reading!

The incident Fearless Master refers to when he says Tommy asked for help but then failed to listen to him, is depicted in First Blood.

The conversation between Hawk and Storm Shadow is in the last chapter of Arashikage.


End file.
